I was a bit puzzled by Dr Tracey Riley's1 letter in response to Dr E. Becker and colleagues'2 report on developing evidence-based nursing policies and procedures. Riley takes Becker et al to task for omissions in searching the literature. Riley makes a valid and important point about searching multiple sources of literature (in medicine, psychology, etc) beyond CINAHL for the fullest retrieval of relevant material. But nowhere in Becker's article is there any evidence that they limit their searches to CINAHL, as Riley suggests, beyond the fact that the articles listed on the sample documents all happen to be indexed in CINAHL. Dr Becker's article also mentions in several places that hospital librarians are regular participants in the practice council, performing literature searches and contributing training and education. This is precisely where expert guidance in choosing and searching multiple relevant databases and resources (such as those mentioned by Riley) will come from. I would disagree with Dr Riley's assertion that "CNSs need to be proficient in thoroughly searching for scientific evidence to inform clinical practice," when a knowledgeable professional librarian is at hand to serve in exactly that capacity, either directly or through coaching. Dr Becker's team clearly appreciates and utilizes this. Dr Riley's criticism, although well-intentioned and informative, seems unwarranted here.

Julie Stielstra, MLS

Knowledge Resources, Knowledge Resource Library

Cadence Health-Central DuPage Hospital

Winfield, Illinois

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